Specialized Epilepsy Care

If you are seeking specialized epilepsy care for an adult or a child
in the United States the NAEC can help you.

What is a specialized epilepsy center?
Epilepsy centers bring together the training of epileptologists,
nurse-clinicians, nurse-educators, psychologists, pharmacists,
laboratory technicians and other specially-trained professionals to
work with patients and their families as a team to provide the kind
of services often needed for optimal epilepsy care.

What Every Person With Epilepsy Should Know
Without a precise diagnosis, treatment of seizures is a matter of
chance. Proper treatment requires more than the right choice of an
antiepileptic medicine and whether or not to perform epilepsy
surgery. Seizures affect many aspects of your physical, mental and
social well-being.

You should know:

The goal of treatment is no seizures, no
side effects and a positive outlook on life.

The role of a specialized epilepsy center
is to provide:

an accurate diagnosis of your seizure type and seizure
syndrome;

comprehensive epilepsy education for you and your caregivers;

appropriate treatment specific to your diagnosis;

surgical treatment or access to it if indicated.

Referral guidelines for seizure disorders
have been established by the NAEC:

If your seizures have not been brought under control after
three months of care by a primary care provider (family
physician, pediatrician), further neurologic intervention by a
neurologist, or an epilepsy center if locally available, is appropriate.

If you are seeing a general neurologist, and your seizures
have not been brought under control after 12 months, you should
insist upon a referral to a specialized epilepsy center with an
epileptologist.

Levels of care for epilepsy have been developed by the NAEC
for use in evaluating the appropriateness and quality of
specialized epilepsy care.